The present invention relates generally to textile fabrics suitable for use in safety apparel. More particularly, the present invention relates to such fabrics which are flame resistant and also have an affinity for high visibility dyes meeting established standards for such.
Workers in many occupations are exposed to various personal safety hazards which can be mitigated by wearing safety apparel which provides selected properties such as flame resistance and high visibility. Such safety apparel has wide-spread applications across many varied occupations, such as in particular within the construction and manufacturing industries.
To date, governmental organizations have not promulgated defined minimum standards for such safety apparel. However, private organizations, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), have published certain standards for safety apparel. For example, ANSI in conjunction with ISEA has established a standard for the minimum conspicuity of safety apparel used in certain occupational activities so as to be deemed “high visibility”, such standard commonly designated as ANSI/ISEA-107. ASTM has similarly developed a standard for minimum flame resistant in safety apparel, designated as standard ASTM F-1506.
Until recently, the textile industry considered such standards to be essentially incompatible as the vast majority of textile fiber materials suitable for apparel fabrication which meet the ASTM F-1506 flame resistant standard are incapable of being dyed to a luminescence sufficient to meet the ANSI/ISEA-107 standard for high visibility and, visa-versa, the vast majority of textile fiber materials suitable for apparel fabrication which have a sufficient affinity for luminescent dyeing to meet the ANSI/ISEA-107 standard would not provide flame resistance properties meeting the ASTM F-1506 standard.
However, it has been discovered that modacrylic fibers have a dye affinity and flame resistance characteristics capable of satisfying both standards and, accordingly, in recent years, textile fabrics have been developed which are composed entirely or predominantly of modacrylic fibers for use in fabricating safety apparel to meet each standard. Representative examples of such fabrics are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,706,650; 6,787,228; and 6,946,412, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040192134.
While such modacrylic fabrics satisfy the aforementioned flame resistance and high visibility standards, safety apparel made from such fabrics has thus far achieved only limited acceptance within the apparel industry because such fabrics are stiff, abrasive and otherwise very uncomfortable when worn, particularly when in contact with a wearer's skin. Accordingly, there is a recognized and yet unmet need within the relevant safety apparel industry for an alternative fabric providing apparel-like hand and comfort properties while still meeting the relevant flame resistance and high visibility standards.